10 DLCs That Are as Good as the Main Game

Video game DLCs have a very mixed reputation. Many fans are justifiably of the opinion that paying full price for a game should give you access to the full experience. DLCs tend to run counter to that concept by introducing additional content locked behind another paywall. There have certainly been DLCs that have let down fans by monetizing cosmetics and tweaks that aren’t worth the cost. The infamous horse armor from Oblivion is a good example. But some DLC adds hours of story content, deepening the base gameplay. Some expansions also add several new characters, and build on the lore in a truly meaningful way. Here are some of the best DLCs you can pick up for your favorite games.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

The Grand Theft Auto series is famous for vast open worlds and deep, stirring tales of crime and punishment. Grand Theft Auto V is still one of the best-selling video games of all time. But its predecessor GTA IV arguably takes the cake for DLC. The Ballad of Gay Tony is a massive expansion, on par with an entire game’s worth of content. It’s held up by fans as one of the best pieces of Grand Theft Auto content on the market. Even with GTA VI beginning to loom on the horizon, it’s well worth your time.

Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea

Bioshock Infinite is a rather infamous entry in the grim shooter franchise. The new setting of Columbia drew a lot of attention at launch and earned it a lot of fans who persist to this day. Unfortunately, some elements of the story haven’t aged well, like the controversial Vox Populi arc. Luckily, the Burial at Sea expansion still holds up. This two-episode DLC explores the events following the brain-twisting ending of the base game. The expansion centers on Elizabeth, expanding her story and her extremely complicated life while returning to the waterlogged city of Rapture. The second episode even gave fans the chance to play as her, radically changing the gameplay experience.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn

Skyrim is one of the most famous video games of all time. This open-world RPG already gave fans a vast fantasy landscape to explore when it first launched in 2011. The DLC, however, takes things a step further. Dragonborn allows the player to voyage to the remote island of Solstheim. This dense locale is packed with mysterious dungeons and locales to explore. Because of Solstheim’s history with the Dunmer, Dragonborn incorporates lore and design from the fan-favorite Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. However, it still tells a self-contained story that enriches the lore around the legend of the Dragonborn. It also features a unique cosmic horror tone that helps it stand out still more from the base game’s Nordic fantasy.

The Last of Us: Left Behind

The Last of Us series is held up as a paragon of storytelling in video games, and with good reason. The strong writing and exceptional voice acting of the main characters are in full display across both titles. This is also the case for Left Behind, a standalone expansion to the first game. This DLC centers on Ellie, giving fans a chance to explore her unique perspective. It takes place both before and during her travels with Joel. While the DLC was originally released as a standalone project, it was later bundled for free with rereleases of the game like The Last of Us Remastered and The Last of Us: Part I. This makes it a very accessible and extremely valuable addition to the iconic game. Some fans consider it the best part of The Last of Us, so it’s definitely worth your time.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Few games have had as much of a checkered past as Cyberpunk 2077. The game was hyped before release as a major evolution in the open-world RPG genre. Unfortunately, it launched in an extremely buggy, unpolished state that put an indelible stain on developer CD Projekt RED’s reputation. After three years of fixes and patches, CD Projekt was able to fix the game, just in time for it to soar into the limelight once again. 2023’s Phantom Liberty expansion is a critically acclaimed DLC. It’s been touted as everything the base game should have been back in 2020. With a brand new area to explore, multiple new characters to interact with, and a variety of new weapons to try out, Phantom Liberty is a triumph. Even better, it launched alongside a free update to the base game. This update rebalanced gameplay and added more much-needed improvements to the experience.

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

The XCOM franchise is an iconic series of hardcore tactical games. It pits a small, elite force of special operatives against an overwhelming alien invasion. War of the Chosen introduces an extensive catalog of new content for your resistance force to survive against. The titular Chosen are three elite alien-human warriors who will stop at nothing to defeat XCOM. These intimidating foes will constantly endanger your forces. There are also warring rebel factions you can seek alliances with, as well as a new Bond system. This mechanic heightens relationships between your units at the risk of potentially disastrous consequences should one of them fall in battle.

Mass Effect 3: Citadel

As iconic as the Mass Effect trilogy is, the final game has earned a lot of criticism for missing the mark on the ending. BioWare has since released updates and DLC to correct the ending and provide more context for the controversial choice at the end of the game. They also released Citadel, which serves as a glorious celebration of everything that made the trilogy special. Commander Shepard and crew must confront a sinister conspiracy that leads them from a high-end neighborhood on the Citadel to an elaborate casino heist to the depths of the government’s archives. The story highlights the characters and relationships that fans have loved for years. This fan service culminates in an extended party sequence that gives the iconic crew of the Normandy a perfect send-off before the cataclysmic finale.

The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine

While Cyberpunk 2077 may have been a source of controversy for CD Projekt, the same cannot be said of The Witcher 3. This award-winning RPG catapulted the multimedia Witcher franchise into the limelight, earning it a beloved Netflix adaptation and plenty of spinoffs. The masterful writing and game design continue in Blood & Wine, an expansion on par with the main game if not exceeding it in quality. This DLC brings Geralt to the Duchy of Toussaint, an expansive region rich with new characters and storylines to explore. Blood & Wine was praised not only for its new story content but for how it handled the development of Geralt’s storyline. This excellent addition to the life of the iconic Geralt of Rivia has merited some calling Blood & Wine one of the best expansion packs of all time.

Bloodborne: Old Hunters

Bloodborne is one of FromSoftware’s best games, and that’s saying something. The iconic Dark Souls trilogy and the expansive open world of Elden Ring are legends in the video game industry, but the blood-soaked, gothic streets of Yharnam keep bringing fans back. Integral to the appeal of Bloodborne is the Old Hunters DLC, which contains some of the best content in the entire game. This expansion sends players to the Hunter’s Nightmare, a grim reality conjured from the awful origins of the blood curse afflicting Yharnam. Here you can collect new weapons and go toe to toe with some of the most challenging monsters FromSoft has ever conjured, including iconic bosses like Lady Maria and the Orphan of Kos. This DLC is not for the faint of heart, but it is a masterwork of game design.

Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues

It’s hard to identify one good piece of Fallout: New Vegas DLC, because each of the game’s major expansions are excellent in their own distinct way. If you want the most bang for your buck, though, Old World Blues is arguably the best way to go. This expansive piece of DLC brings the player to the Big MT, a massive and derelict research compound from before the war. The researchers of the facility are still alive as brains in floating jars, and as the player explores their labs and facilities, you gradually discover the dark truth behind their endless feud with the villainous Dr. Mobius. This expansion is packed with new locations, weapons, and enemies, all handled with the same brilliant writing as the base game. It’s a masterful blend of pulp sci-fi schlock and thought-provoking commentary, and that’s about as Fallout as it gets.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Screenshot from Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.